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Batman (1989)
| running time = 126 min. | country = USA | language = English | budget = $35,000,000 Box Office Mojo; Batman (1989); Domestic Total Gross. Total Lifetime Grosses. Domestic summary. | gross revenue = $251,188,924 (US) $411,348,924 (Worldwide) | preceded by = | followed by = Batman Returns }} Batman is an American feature film of the superhero fantasy genre. It is the first major live-action attempt to bring the character of Batman to the big screen. The movie is based on a character and series of comic book titles published by DC Comics, which introduced the titular masked hero of Batman in 1939 in the pages of Detective Comics #27. The character and background of the Batman mythos was created by writer Bill Finger and graphic artist Bob Kane. The film adaptation of Batman was directed by Tim Burton with a screenplay written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren. It was produced by Warner Bros. and premiered in the United States on June 23rd, 1989. Batman was followed by three sequels before the franchise was rebooted as "The Dark Knight Trilogy", beginning with Batman Returns in 1992. Synopsis Approaching its 200th anniversary, Gotham City's leaders fear that the high level of criminal activity will deter citizens from attending the celebrations. Gotham's mayor William Borg orders District Attorney Harvey Dent to make the city safe again, in hopes of revitalizing local business. Dent, in turn, targets mob boss Carl Grissom, who sponsors much of the criminal activity within Gotham and has paid off a significant segment of the police force. Meanwhile, a dark vigilante dressed as a bat has attracted the attention of both the police and the local media. Newspaper reporter Alexander Knox is attempting to investigate, but his questions are deflected by skeptical cops, including Lt. Eckhardt, one of many police officers on the take from Grissom. After stonewalling Knox, Eckhardt is shown taking a payoff from Grissom's second in command, Jack Napier. Grissom, on discovering that his mistress is involved with Napier, sets him up to be killed by Eckhardt in a raid on Axis Chemicals. The plot is foiled by the arrival of Police Commissioner James Gordon, who wants Napier taken alive, and Batman. Batman captures Napier, but releases him when Bob the Goon holds Gordon hostage at gunpoint. Batman vanishes, and in the confusion, Napier shoots and kills Eckhardt, then attempts to shoot a re-emerged Batman. The latter deflects his shot, sending shrapnel into the former's face. Napier falls over a railing into a vat of chemicals, presumably to his death. Although surrounded by the police, Batman escapes the scene. Batman, as we discover, is actually billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, an orphan who lives alone in the large mansion Wayne Manor, with only his butler Alfred Pennyworth in attendance. At a fundraising party, Bruce meets and falls for famous photojournalist Vicki Vale, recently arrived in town to cover the "Bat Man phenomenon." Napier, in the meantime, is not dead but horribly disfigured, with white skin, green hair, and a permanent grin (after a botched reconstructive surgery attempt). Already erratic, the trauma has apparently driven him completely insane. Calling himself "The Joker", he kills Grissom and usurps his criminal empire. His first scheme is to spread terror in the city by creating hygiene products that can kill by fatal hilarity when used in certain combinations, laced with a deadly chemical known as "Smilex." Following the death of a news anchor on-air, the city becomes paralyzed with fear. Making war on several fronts, the Joker then sets a trap at the Gotham Museum of Art for Vicki, with whom he has become smitten; his fellows start to slash and deface the entire legacy of Western Art, but as one of them approaches to Francis Bacon's Figure with Meat, the Joker stops him saying "I kinda like this one". The Joker then tries to disfigure our damsel in distress, at this point The Batman descends in a shower of glass via the window ceiling and saves Vicki, to whom he then gives the secret of the Joker's chemical combinations. Batman renders her unconscious, and she awakes at home. Incensed at Batman eluding him while taking Vale and ruining his poisoning scheme, the Joker vows to eliminate the mysterious vigilante for interfering with his plans. Vicki's apartment is then the scene of a confrontation between the Joker, who has come to woo her, and Bruce, who has come to try and confess about his double-life but not getting very far. After Bruce challenges the Joker to a fight, the Joker pulls a gun and asks him: "Tell me something, friend. Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" He then shoots Bruce. The Joker then leaves amid his own hoopla, and Vicki is shocked to see that Bruce has disappeared, leaving behind only a metal platter which he used as an impromptu bulletproof vest. The scene is set as Bruce realises that the Joker is actually the man who murdered his parents many, many years ago in Gotham. The final clue was that his parents' murderer said the same phrase to him as The Joker said in Vicki's apartment ("Ever dance with the Devil by the pale moonlight?"). As Bruce grapples with this memory, he is shocked by the sudden appearance of Vicki in the Bat Cave; Alfred having decided that she deserved to know the truth. The Joker has put his own plans in motion to upstage the city's canceled anniversary celebrations with a grand spectacle: a nighttime parade at which he will dispense $20 million in free cash (in a comic book adaption this money is revealed to be fake as it has the Joker's face on it). Vicki and Knox are there to cover the pandemonium, and they notice strange tanks on the balloons. In the middle of his generosity, the Joker begins gassing the crowd. Batman arrives in his Batwing and snatches the balloons away to carry them out of the city. Furious, the Joker shoots Bob the Goon, his number one thug. Batman returns to make a strafing run on the Joker, who responds by shooting down the jet with an insanely long-barreled revolver. Vicki approaches the downed craft but is captured by the Joker, who leads her to the top of Gotham Cathedral. Dazed but not finished, Batman pursues. At the top of the cathedral, the two adversaries confront each other in single combat. In a moment of opportunity, the Joker pulls Batman and Vicki off the belfry, where they cling to the ledge for their lives. as The Joker begins mocking them his helicopter appears and he grabs hold of a dangling ladder, about to escape. Batman shoots a wire around the Joker's leg, connecting it to a stone gargoyle on the ledge. As the Joker is lifted away, the wire pulls the gargoyle loose and he plummets to his death. The movie ends with Commissioner Gordon announcing the Gotham police have arrested all the Joker's gang remnants who were not killed by Batman, and unveiling the Bat=signal supplied by Batman with a note promising to return if the city needs him. DC Movies Wikia; Batman (1989); Plot synopsis. Cast Notes & Trivia * Batman was created by comic book writer Bill Finger and graphic artist Bob Kane. He first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #27 in May, 1939. * The Joker was created by comic book writer Bill Finger and graphic artist Bob Kane. He first appeared in the first full story from ''Batman'', Volume 1 #1 in the Spring of 1940 titled "Joker". * This film was adapted into a one-shot graphic novel called Batman: The Official Comic Adaptation in 1989. The book featured an original cover art design by Jerry Ordway based on the look of the characters from the movie. * Production on Batman began on October 17th, 1988. Principal filming on the movie concluded on January 12th, 1989. IMDB; Batman (1989); Filming locations and production dates. * Batman grossed $40,489,746 over its opening weekend. * At its widest release, Batman was screened in 2,201 movie theaters. * Batman closed out theaters on December 14th, 1989. It had been in release for a total of twenty-five weeks (175 days). * Studio shots and exterior mock-ups of Gotham City were filmed at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. * Knebworth House in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England was used for the exterior shots of Wayne Manor. Interior shots of the manor were filmed at Hatfield House in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. * Interior shots of the Axis Chemicals building were filmed in Acton in London, England. * This is the first feature-length theatrically released Batman film. It is the first installment in a series that includes three sequels. * Batman was released the same month as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. * This is the first of two films to star Michael Keaton as Batman. The other is Batman Returns. * Actor Mac McDonald is credited as Mac Macdonald in this film. McDonald is also known for playing Captain Hollister in the "Back in the Red (Part 3)" episode of the British sci-fi/comedy series Red Dwarf. * Actor Lachele Carl is credited as Lachelle Carl in this film. * Actor Amir M. Korangy is credited as Amir Korangy in this film. * Actor Hugo Blick is credited as Hugo E. Blick in this film. * Actor Denis Lill is credited as Dennis Lill in this film. He portrays Bob the cartoonist, which is intended as a nod to Batman co-creator Bob Kane. * This is Tim Burton's third film as a director. He previously directed Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985 and Beetlejuice in 1988. This is the first of two films in the ''Batman'' film series that he directs in total. The next is Batman Returns. * Michael Keaton is the fourth actor to portray a live-action version of Batman. The first was Lewis Wilson from the original 1943 Batman serial series. The second was Robert Lowery from the 1949 Batman and Robin serial. The third was Adam West from the 1966 Batman TV series. * Jack Nicholson is the second actor to portray a live-action version of the Joker. The first was Cesar Romero in the 1966 Batman television series. Actors to follow in Nicholson's footsteps will include Mark Hamill (as a voice actor), Heath Ledger and Jared Leto. * Michael Gough is the second actor to portray a live-action version of Alfred Pennyworth. The first was Alan Napier in the 1966 Batman television series. * Pat Hingle is the second actor to portray a live-action version of police commissioner James Gordon. The first was Neil Hamilton in the 1966 Batman television series. * This is the first appearance of Vicki Vale in alternative media. * This is the first appearance of Harvey Dent in alternative media. Classically, Harvey Dent is destined to become the villain known as Two-Face. Two-Face makes his film debut in the sequel movie Batman Forever where he is played by actor Tommy Lee Jones. That film ignores the Billy Dee Williams iteration of the character. * Alexander Knox, CArl Grissom, Alicia Hunt, Bob the Goon, and Lieutenant Eckhardt are all unique to the continuity of the ''Batman'' film series. They have no direct counterparts in the DC Comics comic book titles. * This is the first time that the Joker has ever been given a proper name. He is identified as Jack Napier in this film. Napier also happens to be the surname of actor Alan Napier, who played Alfred in the 1966 Batman television series. * This is also the first time that the Joker has ever been seen prior to the accident that changed his hair and skin color. * In this film, the Batplane is renamed as the Batwing. This is later used as the code name for David Zavimbe, and later Luke Fox in the comic book series Batwing, which is part of DC's "New 52" era of continuity. * A prop model of Wayne Manor as well as the Batsuit were put on display in the Planet Hollywood in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the mid 1990s. Coincidentally, this region also served as an analog to Gotham City in the Post-Crisis era of ''Batman'' comic stories. * Bob the Goon is the first comic book henchman to receive his own action figure. * A movie marquis for Batman can be seen in episodes from season two of the Netflix original series Stranger Things. Recommendations * Batman: The Movie * Batman Returns * Batman Forever * Batman & Robin * Batman Begins * Dark Knight, The * Dark Knight Rises, The * Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice See also External Links * * * * * * Batman at the Batman Wiki * Batman at Wikipedia * * * * Batman at the Movie Database * Batman at the DC Movies Wiki References